Never Grow Up
by chewinggumandpencils
Summary: A one-shot based off of Taylor Swift's song Never Grow Up. Written in Ginny's POV. Part of my ongoing project to write a one-shot for every song on the Speak Now album.


_A/N: Hey guys! I'm going to be writing fanfictions for each song on Taylor Swift's album Speak Now. I'll be uploading them separately though, since they will all be about different characters. I'll have a checklist on my profile page with which ones I've done. [:_

_I pinky promise that I don't own Harry Potter and that the chances of me ever owning it are one in 5 gazillion. Also, I don't own Taylor Swift. I have enough trouble getting one guy, let alone all that many, so I could never write that many songs about boys. So, this disclaimer goes for all the one-shots in this project thing. Neither HP or Taylor Swift are mine._

__This specific one is about the song Never Grow Up and it's written from Ginny's point of view. ***important* Since it is from her perspective, all the things in bold that tell you when it takes place are in relation to Ginny. So, if it says 3rd year, that would be the Trio's 4th year. Got it?**__

_I suggest listening to the song before/while you read, or at least looking at the lyrics._

_Now, this is really long._

_To the story!_

* * *

><p><strong>4 years old<strong>

I wrapped my hand around my mum's, but her hand was so big that I could only hold on to three of her fingers.

"Please, mum, can I just stay up five more minutes? Ron gets to stay up ten more minutes. I just want five. Pleaseeee?"

"Ronnie's older. He can stay up later. It's time for bed missy." Mum scooped me up in her arms and carried me to my room. She waded past the toys I forgot to put away and laid me down on my bed. My room was silent except for the sound of her tucking me in.

"Good night, darling."

"Good night mum."

She gets up from my bed and starts to walk away. "WAIT, MUM. You forgot something."

My mum turns around and smiles at me. "Oh did I? Hmm. Looks like I did. Silly mum." I start giggling at her as she gets her wand out and taps my night light.

I giggle some more. "Silly mum. That's the wrong one!" She looks at me with amusement in her eyes and taps the same night light again to turn it off.

"Oh right. Mum's getting old." She taps the right one and then kisses my forehead before leaving my room. I'm about to fall asleep, confident that my night light will keep the monsters and the ghoul away, when my door opens and my mum stands in the doorway. She seems to be talking to herself. Silly mum.

"You're so sweet. I'd give everything in my Gringotts account for you to always stay this innocent." She paused and I grew sleepier. "I promise I won't let anyone hurt you. No one will break your heart. They better not desert you. I love you." Then, I faintly hear her whisper, "Please don't grow up." as I fell asleep.

**Summer after 2nd year**

"Mum, do you really have to come all the way with me? I'm just going to get some ice cream at Fortescue's. You took the Floo with me. Why do you have to follow me? None of the other girls are going to be dropped off by their mums!"

"Darling, there's still a mass murderer on the loose. We can't take any chances."

"Are you really going to use that from now on? It's been a year! He's probably not even in England anymore…"

"Come on, Ginny, let's go."

My mum started walking out of the Leaky Cauldron towards the entrance to Diagon Alley. I begrudgingly followed her.

"Ron never has to walk everywhere with you. Fred and George don't have to either. Why do I have to? It's not fair." We reach the divider between the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley and I rush to get my wand out to tap the bricks. I'm about to tap them when my mum reaches in front of me and does it.

"MUM. Can't I even do that alone?"

"You're not supposed to use magic yet dear. Come on."

We walk through Diagon Alley, me complaining the whole time. Finally, we're about a block away from Fortescue's when I reach out and stop my mum.

"Look, mum, it's ok. I can walk a block without dying. You can go home. I'll be done in a two hours. You can meet me here, ok?" I watch my mum's face fall and feel a little bad, but I can't have my mum embarrassing me in front of all my friends!

"Oh, well… ok, I guess that's fine. But I'm going to stand right here until I see you go in."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I keep walking toward Fortescue's, never once looking back.

Later that night, I'm in my room listening to the wireless when my dad comes in and sits on my bed next to me. We sit there in quiet for a little bit, both of us comfortable, when he looks at me and speaks up.

"Do you want your mother to be happy?"

"Umm.. Well, that's a weighted question, but yeah, of course."

"You know that your mother's getting older, right?"

I'm taken back by the question a little, but I nod.

"She doesn't really like to think about it. Just as much as you want to grow up, she doesn't. You growing up makes her feel old."

"Well, I can imagine, but what can I do about it?"

"Well, sometimes you can pretend to still be her little girl. Maybe go make cookies with her sometime. Or spend time with her. Or, maybe, let her walk with you…"

I looked down at my lap at the last one, the guilt from earlier resurfacing. I'm about to speak to explain, but Dad just gets up and walks out of the room, leaving me to think.

**August 31st, before 3rd year**

I knew the moment I woke up that it was going to be a lazy day. I slowly got up after the smell of breakfast became too tempting. I went downstairs in my pjs and sat down next to Percy, making sure to not look at Ron's side of the table and specifically not look to see the reaction of the messy haired boy sitting next to him at seeing me in my pjs. I ate quickly, tuning my parent's conversation about all the clean-up the Ministry was doing after the World Cup fiasco. Soon, Ron and his friends went back upstairs and I followed shortly after, happy about not having to worry about how my bum looked in these pjs.

Once I got upstairs, I flopped back on my bed and looked out at my room. My eyes floated over the things in my room, coming to rest on my calendar. I sat up quickly and looked closer to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. I considered getting my wand out and making sure there were no charms on it to make it seem like a different day, but decided against it, as I didn't want to get in trouble so close to school starting.

How could I have forgotten? I went back to Hogwarts tomorrow! I had nothing ready! All my clothes was scattered throughout my room, so were all my school supplies. My books were still in a corner in their bag where Mum left them. Well, looks like I'd have to pack today. Hopefully, I'd be able to find all my summer work, preferably not in Fred and George's room like last year. They'd changed ALL my answers last year and I didn't feel like correcting them today.

I looked around my room and sighed. Where to start? My eyes landed on my wireless and I smiled. If this couldn't be a lazy day, at least I could make it fun. And if I finished quickly, I could go back to being lazy! I turned the wireless on and found a station I liked, and then got to work. Soon, I was having loads of fun. I was dancing around my room, picking things up and putting them away in time to the music. I was so caught up in my little dancing/packing routine, that I didn't notice my door open. My mum stood in the door way, watching me dance. Finally, after a, if I do say so myself, particularly excellent turn, I spotted her. I stopped dancing immediately, embarrassed. She walked over to my bed smiling, put down my clean laundry, and then pulled me into a big hug.

"Please, don't ever stop dancing around your room to get ready for school."

I smiled and hugged her back. We stood there in an embrace. Slowly I noticed that she was crying. I hugged her tighter, hoping to comfort her. She wiped her eyes off and whispered, "Don't you ever grow up. I know you want to, but try to never grow up. " She pulled away from me and looked at me, as if trying to memorize me. Then she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

**Summer before 6th year, a few days before the wedding**

I snuck up to my room, making sure to avoid mum. If she found me, she'd make sure to find something new for me to do and I needed a break. I lay down on my bed on my stomach. I could faintly hear Ron's voice upstairs, and it sounded like he'd found some time to talk to Hermione and Harry. Lucky them. Not lucky me. They get to go off and actually do something. I lose my brother, my best friend, and… Harry. Oh Harry. I turned over onto my back and stared at my ceiling. I swear, if I lost him, I had no clue what I would do with myself. No matter what, I couldn't just sit by while the love of my life was out fighting. I had to do something. I'd been owling with Luna and Neville a bit, so I know I won't be the only one. I kept staring at my ceiling when a small thought entered my mind. It was one of those things that just had to be said out loud.

"Things are never going to be the same, are they? One way or another, everything will be completely different."

It was a small thought, but it changed everything. To be honest, it terrified me. How exactly would things change? I looked around my room frantically, trying to memorize they way it looked. I got up and walked around, trying to memorize everything from the way the floorboard creaked in a certain corner to the way my perfumes mixed together near my dresser. I heard the door open downstairs and heard footsteps entering the house. _Dad's home. Oh god. What if I never hear Dad come home again?_ It was too much for me. I ran out of my room and went downstairs to give my dad a hug. When he asked me if there was any particular reason, I just shook my head and smiled.

Then, while walking back up to my room, I heard a song. I couldn't remember the name of it, but it sounded really familiar. _Oh right, it's Ron's favorite song. _That thought only led to more hysteria, but I couldn't go give him a hug because Harry was up there and there was no way I could handle that. He'd end up hugging me to comfort me and I would never let him go. I couldn't do that, not to him or the wizarding world. I went and laid down on my bed again. My mind was flooded with all sorts of memories, things that I might never see again. Slowly, I started to cry. I lay there, crying, listening to the people in my house going on with their lives.

_Everything I have is someday going to be gone._

Eventually, I cried myself to sleep.

**Diagon Alley, two years after Hogwarts graduation**

I watched from my window as my parents walked towards the Leaky Cauldron. They could have just apparated, but they still liked taking the Floo home and my fireplace wasn't connected yet. It was getting connected tomorrow. I turned around and stared at my apartment. _My apartment._ This was mine. All mine. I slowly walked around the room, walking around boxes and stacks of things that I hadn't decided on a spot for yet. I knew that mum would be crying around now. She'd promised not to cry while they were dropping me off. Dad made her. But I knew she'd be crying now that they left me in my brand new apartment.

I sat down on my couch. I felt incredibly lonely. I knew I could call Hermione, and she'd bring Ron, or I could call Harry and have him spend the night. For some reason, I felt like I should spend the first night alone. Maybe to prove to my brothers that I could. Maybe to prove it to myself. I wasn't really sure. After a little while of sitting there, looking out at my stuff, I started to shiver. It was a lot colder than I expected it to be. I got up and walked to my bedroom, the only room that was mostly unpacked. I changed into my pjs and was about to get into bed, when my glance fell on my night stand. Something was missing. I immediately ran out of the room and started digging through boxes in the living room. After searching through a few boxes, I finally pulled out two small items that almost looked like candles. I smiled and walked back to my bedroom.

I sat down on my bed and set the two items down on my nightstand. Then, I tucked myself in (since no one else was here to tuck me in), and grabbed my wand from where I had laid it on the nightstand. First I tapped one of the two items.

"Silly Ginny." I tapped it again, and then tapped the other one. Smiling, I laid my wand back down on my dresser. I stared at my nightlight, a memento from my childhood, and let my mind wander. I kept thinking about different times in my childhood. I'd never really appreciated how nice I had it when I was a child. After reminiscing on lots of different memories from my childhood, a new thought entered my mind. It was something I'd never thought about before and, quite frankly, it shocked me. Like so many other things, it was one of those things I just had to say out loud, if only to make it real to myself.

"I wish I'd never grown up." I lay there, my mind racing. I didn't want to grow up. I just wanted to be a child. Things had been simple. I could always expect what was coming. But now? Now I had no idea what to expect. No clue, whatsoever.

I spent most of that night awake, wondering why exactly I had to grow up.

**Two weeks after James' birth**

I snuck up the stairs, making sure to stay quiet. If Harry saw me, he'd make jokes about it for about a week. Making sure he wasn't following me, I snuck into James' room and went to stand over his crib. I stared down at my baby, a smile erupting on my face.

"My sweet baby."

James stirred a little in his sleep and I gently stroked his hair.

I kept my voice low, starting with a slow whisper and steadily speeding up.

"Oh, baby, please stay this little. Don't ever grow up. I'll always take care of you. No one will hurt you like they hurt me and if anyone ever tries to hurt you like they hurt your daddy, they'll be sorry. I won't let anyone break your heart. I know you want to, but don't grow up. Please, baby. Just don't grow up."

Suddenly, I felt someone behind me. Harry walked over to my side and put his hand over mine.

"He's so innocent, isn't he, Ginny?"

I nodded, smiling.

"Were we ever like that?"

"Well, I don't know about you, Mr. Savior of the World, but I know I was."

Harry chuckled and then looked at James.

"If what we went through is growing up, then, please, James, don't ever grow up."

Harry and I stood there a while longer, just watching our baby. Eventually, we went to sleep, knowing there was nothing we could do to stop our baby from growing up.

* * *

><p><em>AN: So, thoughts? Maybe you could possibly review and tell me! I love reviews. They make me smile and dream of unicorns and rainbows. Do you want to deny me that?_

_Now, Ginny isn't my favorite character, but I felt like she worked best for this specific idea. It was a bit difficult at times to write from her perspective, so let me know how I did!_

_Thanks for reading!_


End file.
